Page 121 of Draekora

“Where—” Alex cleared her throat against the raspy sound of her voice and asked the question expected of her. “Where are we, Zain?”

“On one of the floating islands of Draekora, far above the city of Meya, a land abandoned long ago,” Zain said, gesturing for her to follow as he moved through what looked like a makeshift settlement filled with Myrox tents and huts of all shapes and sizes. “We had to find a safe place to set up a resistance now that Aven has taken over leadership of Meya. Or as safe a place as possible.”

Alex’s steps stuttered. “Aven’s taken Meya?”

Zain gave a terse nod. “With Astophe dead and Roka… indisposed… Aven had free claim to the throne.”

“But… What about Niida?”

Hands clenching into fists at his side, Zain said, “The queen was inconsolable with the death of her king and the state of her eldest son. She welcomed Aven back with open arms, surrendering herself and all those unable to escape in time. This”—he indicated towards the scant number of Meyarins wandering shell-shocked throughout the camp—“is all who managed to get away. A handful ofZeltoraand a small number of council members, court officials and citizens. There are maybe fifty of us who were able to escape before…”

“Before what, Zain?”

“Before he had his telekinetic humans immobilise our race so he could begin to Claim them all, one after the other,” Zain answered, his eyes pained with the devastation of what Aven had done. “By now, every Meyarin not here with us will be at his mercy, bound to him forevermore.”

The enormity of what he’d just said almost brought Alex to her knees. She wrapped her arms around herself, her body shaking uncontrollably at the nightmare they now faced. If Aven had unlimited, unrestricted control over the immortal beings, what chance did the rest of the world have? How could she possibly stop the apocalyptic vision of the future from coming true when he had so much power at his disposal?

“The only reason any of us managed to get out in time is because, after what happened to Roka, we knew we had to get him away, get him somewhere secure, so we were already on the move when they struck. With Aven’s disinherited blood still invalidated as long as Roka remains alive, he can’t access theValispathto reach us here. While he could command one of his Claimed Meyarins to deliver him—since their own blood still enables them to use the Eternal Path—he won’t risk not having his own means of escape at hand. Because of that, Draekora is the safest, most isolated place for us to rally ourselves and consider what must next be done.”

Alex could tell from his tone that he had no clue what they would do. What theycoulddo.

Niyx, please—I need you to answer me, she called in her mind, desperate to hear from him, but there was still no response.

Rendered silent by the shock of everything Zain had told her—everything that, for him, had happened in the few hours she’d been unconscious—Alex followed mutely as he led her into a circular tent much larger than the one she’d awoken in. There were three people inside, but she barely spared a glance at Kyia and, strangely, Lady Mystique. She only looked at Roka, whose prone body lay so still that he was seemingly lifeless.

Ungluing her legs, Alex walked shakily over to his bedside, staring down in dismay. She couldn’t reconcile this unmoving image of Roka with what she knew of him. He was so full of life, so full of energy… But now… Now something was very wrong with him.

Unable to ask the question, Alex found comfort in watching the steady rise and fall of his chest.

She felt a soft flutter against her hand as trembling fingers entwined with hers, and she forced her eyes up from Roka to look at Kyia standing vigil beside her, her body visibly shaking. The female Meyarin’s clothes were ripped and her normally immaculate hair was like a haystack around her head, but it was the dried tear tracks on her cheeks that revealed the depths of her grief as she looked down upon her beloved.

Alex’s gaze travelled across to Zain and Lady Mystique who stood on Roka’s other side, both of them staring solemnly at the fallen prince.

Pulling herself together, Alex finally managed to whisper, “What happened to him?”

Kyia’s hand twitched in hers but the Meyarin didn’t loosen her grip.

“When the draekon was somehow pulled through the Void,” Zain said, and Alex’s eyes flicked instantly to Lady Mystique, who responded with a slight shake of her head to indicate that no one knew the Tia Auran had been the one to open theabrassafor Aven, “Roka took off to find you, Alex. He was certain his brother was involved, so Kyia and I followed him. But unbeknownst to us, the draekon had already flown you to safety.”

Zain closed his eyes and continued. “We ran into some of Aven’s gifted humans in the forest, ones hisGarsethbrought through to Meya on theValispath. It was sheer luck that none of the humans we crossed paths with had gifts able to incapacitate us, and we dispatched them with ease. But during the process, we were separated. Kyia and I ended up in one place, Roka in another. And he…” Zain trailed off, unable to say more.

Lady Mystique continued for him. “Roka ran into Aven—and me, though I was struggling to work my way out of chains at the time.”

She held out her hands, showing Alex the painful-looking black welts seared into her flesh. Thetraesoscoils hadn’t done that to Alex—but then again, she wasn’t Tia Auran. Who knew what effects the dark matter had on other beings?

“With us were a handful of Meyarin Rebels but also another human,” Lady Mystique continued. “One with a gift the likes of which I’ve never seen nor heard of before.”

Alex knew that was saying a lot, coming from her, and none of it was good.

“Aven was furious over losing the draekon,” the old woman said, “but with his ultimate goal being to take the throne, Roka’s appearance was an unanticipated boon. He already had someone in place to take out the king”—Zain was quick to snarl Niyx’s name, but Lady Mystique ignored him with deliberation and continued—“but he hadn’t dreamed he’d be able to get rid of them both at once.” Her tone suggested she struggled to believe it herself. “Roka was always the more capable of the two when it came to a fair fight. So when they engaged in battle, Aven soon turned to cheating.”

Alex’s eyes flicked down to Roka then back up to Lady Mystique again. “What did he do?”

“The human who was with him, a man named Grimm Helkin, he… did something to Roka,” Lady Mystique said, her eyes filled with sorrow. “One minute Roka had nearly overcome Aven, the next Aven ordered Grimm to incapacitate his brother. I may not have been able to break free in time to prevent it, but Ididmanage to escape just in time to save Roka from the killing strike of Aven’s blade.”

Kyia’s hand twitched in Alex’s again, and Alex tightened her grip, sending as much strength towards her friend as she could muster.

“I delivered him to Kyia and Zain, telling them to get as many people out of the city as possible, certain that Aven would head straight there,” Lady Mystique said. “In return, I promised I would find you and bring you safely to Draekora.”

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